Valentines Day is February 14th.

Here are 10 things to stop doing in order to love yourself:

1. Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you.  If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you.  You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot.  Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth.  And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.

2. Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on.  No, it won’t be easy.  There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them.  We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems.  That’s not how we’re made.  In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall.  Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time.  This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.

3. Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself.  Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves.  Read The Road Less Traveled.

4. Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.  Yes, help others; but help yourself too.  If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.

5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else.  Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you.  Don’t change so people will like you.  Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.

6. Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.

7. Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing.  Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success.  You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.

8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us.  We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past.  But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.  Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

9. Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive.  But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.

10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either.  You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else.

Happy New Year and here a few things to do for happiness

• ·         Smile
• ·         Treat other the way you want to be treated
• ·         Look someone in the eyes when you talk to them
• ·         Say something nice to another person to life up another’s spirit

Need extra holiday cash?

Visit these sites:

·         www.Focuscope.com

·         www.Mturk.com

·         www.Fieldwork.com

·         www.Uber.com

·         www.US.testwiththebest.com  

10 reasons people know you are Jamaican if..........

1. You have another pot you called dutch pot.

2. When someone sympathizes with you, you comment “Yuh tink seh it easy?"

3. You point with your lips.

4. You can't say "three" or "thing" ... you say "tree" and "ting".

5. You say words like Heg (instead of Egg); Hingland (instead of England)

6. You give directions with your hands, even if it is in another state.

7. You show disapproval by sucking your teeth.

8. You nod your head upwards to greet someone.

9. You always find yourself standing next to plenty of luggage and boxes at the airport.

10. When you travel home, you bring an extra suitcase going down, it has none of your clothes; returning it has food. 

Change For Jamaica

Written by Elder Robert Jackson

Jamaica the wickedest city on earth,, 300 400 years Port Royal Jamaica was know as the wickedest city on earth.  Late 17^th century

Excerpt from Wikipedia: 

In 2005, Jamaica had 1,674 murders for a murder rate of 58 per 100,000 people.^[4] That year, Jamaica had the highest murder rate in the world.^[2] In November 2008, the Jamaican Parliament voted to retain the death penalty, which is performed by hanging.^[5]
There were 1,682 reported murders in 2009 and 1,428 in 2010. Since 2011 the murder rate has continued to fall following the downward trend started in 2010, with increases in police patrols, curfews and more effective anti-gang activities.^[6]

How on earth have we maintained that title for so long?  We have the fastest man on earth.  We have the most beautiful women on earth.  We have some of greatest criminals on earth.

Ours is a country of extremists.  We only celebrate 2^nd or 3^rd place, if we came 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd.

Oh that we would become extremely righteous; extremely peaceful.  Our extreme righteousness would precipitate extreme prosperity in Jamaica.  If Jamaica were the most righteous nation on earth rather than the wicked, it would be a magnet for the wealth of the world.  Jamaica, if a righteous nation, would be more expensive than Manhattan. Jamaica is the most beautiful island on earth.  In my twenties I had the privilege of traversing the Island seeking Lumber.  I saw some of the most beautiful places.   Places not listed as attractions, mind bogglingly beautiful places.  God is an artist, and He has used Jamaica as a canvas for some of his best work.  When I get to paradise and if it looks like Jamaica, I will not be disappointed.

Jamaica- the world over is viewed as the greatest island, next to paradise if not for the violence.  As a boy growing up in Jamaica, the bad man is celebrated, respected. 

Hence, Malvo.   A crop of Malvos have died, but a new crop of malvos are being cultivated.  Renato Adams once uttered his famous quote “You have to kill the alligator when it young”. 

He was not wrong.   We have to kill our evil sons with righteousness.  We have to seek to be the most righteous nation on earth; consequently I am suggesting we erect electronic billboards throughout the Island reading the Bible. Two thirds of the screen should show the bible, and 1/3 the sponsor.   Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand of Self Interest cannot be ignored.   Free Software to do that is available at Listenbible.com

Instead of killing our young with bullets, let us raise our young with a culture of peace.  The bad man instead of being deified, should be vilified, the bad man should be synonymous with the village idiot.

My dream for Jamaica is to change it from the Wickedest City on earth to the Most Holy Nation on earth.  The surprise though is if we were the Most Holy Nation on earth, we would be the richest nation on earth which is the very thing the Wickedest nation on earth seeks!

The Paradigm Shift

By Janice Maxwell

Whether you are on the island or in the diaspora, employment opportunities are restrictive. With such rapid changes that are occurring in the job climate, one has to be prepared. Here are four common mistakes to avoid:

1)    Complacency

The thing for sure is change. You may be in a company for 5 years; you are vested in the company’s retirement plan and your boss likes you. Then one morning you come to work and learned that your boss died over the weekend and the replacement boss does not like you, so now what?

2)    Professional Neglect

Office protocol has changed over the years. No one faxes that much or send the large brown envelop around the office with correspondences. Did you learn how to email or text yet? Have you heard of Facebook or Twitter? Do you have such accounts? Did you take advantage of the free classes the company offered?

3)    Tighten up your inner circle

Just because someone is by your side does not mean they are on your side. Eliminate the energy drainers and manipulators in your life. They will feed into you self dought and stifle your growth.

4)    Over talking yourself out of a job

The stars aligned and you did get that interview. Don’t tell the HR person something negative unless there in a learning lesson you want to impart. Inform them in a tactful manner of possibilities, flex abilities and how you will be an assent for the company.

Finally, here are some income ideas for the entrepreneurs, who don’t want a 9-5 job.

·         www.MiNeed.com

·         www.TaskRabbit.com

·         www.Odesk.com

·         www.InBoxDollars.com

·         www.MySuvey.com

·         www.Redbubble.com

·         www.UserTesting.com

·         www.AmazonMechanicalTurk.com

·         www.Concepttesting.com

Here are some positive thoughts

1.    Change your mindset.

2.    Invest in your health

3.    Put a value on your talent.

4.    Stay original and create your own blueprint.

5.    Stop waiting, just make it happen.

6.    Stop worrying.

The Fabric of Jamaican Culture intertwined in the World

Written by Alicia Fleming

As a Jamaican living in the US for many years, almost 2/3 of my life, there is always that underlined pressure to assimilate and forget all things Jamaican or put all traces of your Jamaican heritage in that basket underground called "I want to be like everybody else- everything American" Fortunately for me that has not been the case. However, for many Jamaicans (in their misguided sense of assimilation), to identify with their culture is to stick out like a sore thumb. However, thank God for those of us who wear our new found American pride simultaneously with our cultural rich Jamaican pride. Being a person that likes to travel and meet different people, I am truly overjoyed when I travel to some destination and I meet a fellow Jamaican.

This past summer, I traveled to Strasbourg, France. One day, on a break from classes and utilizing our time to explore the town of Strasbourg, my friends and I met a young man from Senegal, who told me that one of his good friends was a Jamaican named Lance who had arrived in Strasbourg about 3 months before. I thought to myself "Wow! Even in a little town like Strasbourg, I am able to find a Jamaican!" When I met Lance, he proudly informed me that the summer before there had been 5 Jamaican teaching students in Strasbourg on a teacher exchange program. He said that they were part of a bigger group of 112 Jamaicans who were in France for this teacher exchange program. Jamaicans have this innate ability to transform whatever atmosphere or environment they find themselves in. As I explored Strasbourg, whether I was the only Jamaican or with Lance and my fellow students, the Francophones from countries such as Morocco, Senegal or Ivory Coast, were always drawn to us with such camaraderie more so than my white counterparts. As a Jamaican, I had the cultural flavor that reminded them of their own flavor and cultural heritage existing in the European community.